NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Haslam today strongly encouraged top local officials to get more engaged with what he called a “changing” Tennessee Legislature where lawmakers hold different views of local governments and other institutions than in the past.
The Republican governor said in his speech to mayors and other officials at the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual conference that they should get directly involved on issues of concern to their communities instead of relying so much on their lobbyists.
A former Knoxville mayor, Haslam said, “I can assure you that it is critical that you engage. It’s really important that our local communities — cities, counties, municipalities — are actively a part of the discussion here.”
While the Legislature has gone from Democratic to Republican control, Haslam said he sees something beyond that based on his discussions with other governors. They agree “the nature of state legislatures is changing in terms of who gets elected and their view of what government looks like,” he said.
Regarding local government, Haslam said “there is nothing that comes closer to real government, where the rubber meets the road. Folks can run into you at the grocery store, at church, at softball games or wherever and give you their opinions of government. And in my mind that’s why local government really is where, of everything we do, as many decisions as possible can be made.”